Zafer Ceylan was killed during a clash between a PKK member and Turkish soldiers on Thursday in Ercis, a district of Van province. Ceylan is a native of Ercis and worked as a taxi driver for years.

After the incident, Van governate released a statement and claimed that the slain taxi driver Zafer Ceylan is an active member of the PKK. Governate said that the reports that portrait Ceylan as an innocent civilian and labelled these as “deliberate attempts to sabotage struggle against terrorism.”

The governate also claimed that Ceylan was holding a pistol in one hand and a hand grenade on the other.

Relatives of Ceylan reject the claims of governate and said that he was murdered by Turkish soldiers for no reason.

Last June Van governate released a statement and declared villagers who were collecting mushrooms as “terrorists”. The fact soon surfaced and the detained villagers filed a lawsuit against the governor.